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PROCEEDINGS 



Li/VV\^L 



™ MOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF TIE-UNITED STATES, 



THE PRESENTATION 



THE SWORD OF WABHINGTON 



STAFF OF FRANKLIN, 



FEBRUARY 7, 1843. 



^ U. S. A, 



WASHINGTON: 

PMHTE ) HY GALES AVT) SE&TCN. 






^ February 8, 1S43. 

On motion of Mr. Taliaferro, 

Resolved, That twenty thousand copies of the full journal of the proceedings 
of the House on the presentation of the sword of Washington be printed, for dis- 
tribution by the members of this House. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



Is THE House of Representatives of the United States. 

Washingtox, FehriLCiry 7, 1S43. 
Mr. Summers, one of the Representatives from the State of 
Virginia, rose, and addressed the House as follows : 

Mr. Speaker : I rise for the purpose of discharging aa 
office not connecte^d with the ordinary business of a legisla- 
tive assembly. Yet, in asking permission to interrupt, for a 
moment, the regular order of parliamentary proceedings, I 
cannot doubt that the proposition which I have to submit will 
prove as gratifying as it may be unusual. 

Mr. Samuel T. Washington, a citizen of Kanawha coun- 
ty, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and one of my constit- 
uents, has honored me with the commission of presenting, in 
his name and on his behalf, to the Congress of the United 
States, and through that body to the People of the United 
States, two most interesting and valuable relics connected 
with the past history of our country, and with men whose 
achievements, both in the field and in the cabinet, best illus- 
trate and adorn our annals. 

One is the Sword worn by George Washington, first as 
a Colonel in the Colonial service of Virginia, in Forbes's 
campaign against the French and Indians, and afterwards 
during the whole period of the war of Independence as Com- 
mander-in-chief of the American army. 

It is a plain couteau, or hanger, with a green hilt and silver 
guard. On the upper ward of the scabbard is engraven, " J. 
'Bailey, Fish Kill." It is accompanied by a buckskin belt, 
which is secured 'by a silver buckle and clasp, whereon are 
engraven the letters " G. W." and the figures " 1757.'* 



These are all of the plainest workmanship, but substantial^, 
and in keeping with the man and with the times to which 
they belonged. 

The history of this sword is perfectly authentic, and leaves 
no shadow of doubt as to its identity. The last will and tes- 
tament of General Washington, bearing date on the 9th day 
of February, 1799, contains, among a great variety of be- 
quests, the following clause : 

•'To each of my nephews, William Augu.siine Washington, George Lewis, 
" George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, 
" I give one of the swords or couteaux of which I may die possessed; and they 
♦* are to choose in the order they are named. These swords are accompanied 
*' with an injunction not to unshealh them for the purpose of shedding blood, ex- 
*' cept it be for self-defence, or in defence of their country and its rights ; and, 
•' in the latter case, to keep tlicm unsheathed, and prefer failing with them in 
" their hands to the relinquishment thereof." 

In the distribution of the swords hereby devised among the 
live nephews therein enumerated, the one now presented fell 
to the share of Samuel Washington, the devisee last named 
in the clause of the will which I have just read. 

This gentleman, who died a few years since in the county 
of Kanawha, and who was the father of Samuel T. Wash- 
ington, the donor, I knew well. I have often seen this 
sword in his possession, and received from himself the follow- 
ing account of the manner in which it became his property in 
the division made among the devisees : 

He said that he knew it to have been the side-arm of Gen- 
eral Washington diu'ing the Revolutionary war ; not that 
used on occasions of parade and review, but the constant ser- 
vice sicord of the great cliief ; that he had himself seen Gen- 
eral WASHiNtiTON wear this identical sword, he presumed, for 
the JHSt time, when, in 1794, he reviewed the Virginia and 
Marylai d forces, then concentrated at Cumberland under the 
command of General Lee, and destined to co-operate with 
the Fenusylvania and New Jersey troops, then assembled at 
Bedford, in sup]ncssing what lias been called the '-Whiskey 
Insurrection." 

Gei eral Washington was then President of the United 



States, and as such was commander-in-chief of the army. It 
is known that it was his intention to lead the army in person 
upon that occasion iiad he foimd it necessary, and he went 
to Bedford and Cnmberland prepared for that event. The 
condiiion of things did not require it, and he returned to his 
civil duties at Philadelphia. " 

Mr. Samuel Washington held the commission of a cap- 
tain at that time himself, and served in that campaign, many 
of the incidents of which he has related to me. 

He was anxious to obtain this particular sword, and pre- 
ferred it to all the others, among which was the ornamented 
and costly present from the great Frederick.^ 

At the time of the division among the nephews, without 
intimating what his preference was, he jocosely remarked, "that 
inasmuch as he was ihe onlj'' one of them then present who had 
participated in military service, they ought to permit him to 
take choice." This suggestion was met in the same spirit in 
which it was made ; and, the selection being awarded him, he 
chose this, the plainest, and, intrinsically, the least valuable 
of any, simply because it was the " Battle Sword." 

I am also in possession of the most satisfactory evidence^ 
furnished by Colonel George C. Washington, of Georgetown, 
the nearest male relative now living of General Washington, 
as to the identity of this sword. His information, as to its 
history, was derived from his father, William Augustine 
Washington, the devisee first named in the clause of the 
will which I have read ; from his uncle, the late Judge Bush- 
rod Washington, of the Supreme Court ; and Major Law- 
rence Lewis, the acting executor of General Washington's 
will — all of whom concurred in the statement that the true 
service siuord was that selected by Captain Samuel Wash- 
ington. 

It remained in this gentleman's possession until his death, 
esteemed by him the most precious memento of liis illustrious 
kinsman. It then became the property of his son, who, ani- 
mated by that patriotism which so characterized the " Father 
of his Country," has consented that such a relic ought not to 



be appropriated by an indivi^fe,! citizen, and has instructed' 
me, his representative, to offer it to the nation, to be preserv- 
ed in its public depositories as the common property of ally- 
since its oflice has been to achieve and secure the common 
liberty of all. 

He has, in like mdnner, requested me to present this Cane 
to the Congress of the United Spates, deeming it not unwor- 
thy the public acceptance. 

This was once the property of the philosopher and patriot,. 
Benjamin Franklin. 

By a codicil to his last will and testament, we find it thus 
diposed of : 

** My fine crab-tree walking slick, with a gold head, curiously wrought in the 
** form of the cap of Liberty, I give to my friend, and the friend of mankind, 
•• General Washington. If it were a sceptre, he has merited it, and would 
«« become it." 

General Washington, in his will, devises this cane as fol- 
lows : 

"Item. To my brother, Chaiiles Washixgtox, I give and bequeath the 
•' gold-beaded cane left me by Dr. Franklin in his will." 

Captain Samuel Washington was the only surviving son- 
of Charles Washington, the devisee from whom he derived, 
by inheritance, this interesting memorial ; and, having trans- 
mitted it to his son, Samuel T. Washington, the latter thus 
seeks to bestow it worthily, by associating it with the battle 
sword in a gift to his countrymen. 

I cordially concur with Mr. Washington in the opinion 
that they each merit public preservation ; and I obey, with 
pleasure, his wishes in here presenting them, in his name, to 
the nation. 

Let the sword of the Hero and the statf of the Philosopher 
go tog€ther. Let them have place among the proudest tro- 
phies and most honored memorials of our national achieve- 
ments. 

Upon that staff once leaned the sage, of whom it has beeu 
said, " He snatched the lightning from heaven, and the scep-^ 
tre from tyrants." 



/ 



A mighty arm once wielded this sword in a righteous cause, 
even imto the dismemberment of empire. In the hand of 
Washington, this was " the sword of the Lord, and of 
Gideon." 

It was never drawn except in the defence of public liberty; 
it was never sheathed until a glorious and triumphant success 
returned it to the scabbard, without a stain of cruelty or dis- 
honor upon its blade ; it was never surrendered except to that 
country which bestowed it. y 

Mr. Summers, having concluded his address, delivered the 
Sword and Staff to the Sergeant-at-arms of the House, who 
bore them to the Speaker, the latter rising from his seat to re- 
ceive them. 



Mr. John Quincy Ada:ms, one of the Representatives from 
the State of Massachusetts, then addressed the House as fol- 
lows : 

In presenting the resolution which I hold in my hand to the 
House, it may perhaps be expected that I should accompany 
it with some remarks suitable to the occasion ; and yet, sir, I 
never rose to address this House under a deeper conviction of 
the want of words to express the emotions that I feel. It is 
precisely because occasions like this are adapted to produce 
universal sympathy, that little can be said by any one, but 
what, in the language of the heart, in tones not loud but deep, 
every one present has silently said to himself. My respected 
friend from Virginia, by whom this offering of patriotic senti- 
ment has been presented to the Representative Assembly of 
the nation, has, it seems to me, already said all that can be 
said suitable to this occasion. In parting from him, as, after 
a few short days, we must all do, it will, on my part, be sor- 
rowing that in all probability I shall see his face and hear his 
voice no more. But his words of this day are planted in my 
memory, and will there remain till the last pulsation of my 
heart. 



Tlic sword of WAsiiiNGToln Tlic stall of Franklin ! Oh, 
sir, what associations are Uiikcd in adamant with tliose names! 
Washington, the warrior of human freedom — Washington. 
Avhose sword, as my friend has said, was never drawn but in 
the cause of his countrj^, and never sheathed when needed in 
his country's cause ! Fuanklin, the philosopher of the thun- 
dcrboh, tlic printing press, and the ploughshare! What names 
are these in the scanty catalogue of the benefactors of human 
kind! Washington and Franklin! What other two men, 
Avhose lives belong to the eighteenth century of Christendom, 
have left a deeper impression of themselves upon the age in 
which they lived, and upon all after time ! Washington, the 
warrior and the legislator ! In War, contending by the wager 
of battle for the independence of his country,. and for the free- 
dom of the human race ; ever manifesting, amidst it horrors, 
by precept and example, his reverence for the laws of Peace, 
and for the tenderest sympathies of humanity : in Peace, 
soothing the ferocious spirit of discord, among his own country- 
men, into harmony and union, and giving to that very sword 
now presented to his country a charm more potent tlian that 
attributed in ancient times to the lyre of Orpheus. Franklin! 
the mechanic of his own fortune, teaching, in early youth, 
^imder the shackles of indigence, the way to wealtli, and in 
the shade of obscurity the path to greatness; in tlie maturity 
of manhood, disarming the thunder of its terrors, the lightning 
of its fatal blast, and wresting from the tyrant's hand the still 
more afflictive sceptre of oppression : while descending into 
the vale of years, traversing the Atlantic ocean, braving in 
the dead of winter the battle and the breeze, bearing in his 
hand the charter of Independence, which he had contributed 
to form, and tendering, from the self-created nation to the 
mightiest monarchs of Europe, the olive branch of peac§, the 
mercurial wand of commerce, and the amulet of protection 
and safety to the man of peace, on the pathless ocean, from 
the inexorable cruelty and merciless rapacity of war. And, 
finally, in the last stage of life, with four score winters upon 
his head, under the torture of an incurable disease, returning 



9 

to his native land, closing his days as the Chief Magistrate of 
his adopted Commonwealth, after contributing by his counsels, 
under the Presidency of Washington, and recording his name, 
under the sanction of devout prayer invoked by him to God, 
to that Constitution under the authority of which we are here 
assembled, as the Representatives of the North American 
People, to receive, in their name and for them, these venerable 
relics of the wise, the valiant, and the good founders of our 
great confederated Republic — these sacred symbols of our 
golden age. 

May they be deposited among the archives of our Govern- 
ment! and may every American who shall hereafter behold 
them ejaculate a mingled offering of praise to that Supreme 
Ruler of the Universe by whose tender mercies our Union 
has been hitherto preserved through all the vicissitudes and 
revolutions of this turbulent world, and of prayer for the con- 
tinuance of these blessings, by the dispensations of his Provi- 
dence, to our beloved country, from age to age, till Time shall 
be no more ! 

The resolution moved by Mr. Adams is as follows : 

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
"of America in Congress assembled. That the thanks of this Congress be pre- 
"sented to Samuel T. Washisgtox, of Kanawha county, Virginia, for the 
"present of the sword used by liis illustrious relative, Geouce Wasuixgtox, 
"in the military career of his early youth in the seven years' war and throughout 
" the war of the National Independence, and of the staff bequeatiied by the pa- 
" triot, statesman, and r^age, Besjamin Franklin, to the same leader of the 
"armies of Freedom in the Revolutionary war, George Washington. That 
"these precious rehcs aie hereby accepted in the name of the Nation; that they 
"be deposited for safe keeping in the Depaitment of State of the United States, 
"and that a copy of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and 
"the Speaker of the House of Representatives, be transmitted to the said Sam- 
•"uEL T. Washington." 

The said resolution was read ; and the question was put, 
Shall it pass ? 

And passed in the affirmative, unanimously. 



10 

It was then, on motion of JN^Taliaferro, 

Ordered, That the addresses of Mr. Summers and Mr. Adams be entered on 
the Journal; that the resolution be taken to the Senate by the Clerk, accompanied 
by the sword and staff, with a request that the Senate will concur in the said 
resolution. 

The House then adjourned until to-morrow. 



The following are the letters referred to in the address of 
Mr. Summers : 

Coal's Mouth, Kanawha Couxtt, (Va.,) 

January 9, 184?. 
Mr Dear Sir : With this you will receive the war sword of my grand uncle^ 
General George Washington, and the gold-headed cane bequeathed to him by 
Dr. Benjamin Franklin. 

These interesting relics I wish to be presented, through you, my dear sir, to 
the Congress of the United States, on behalf of the nation. 

Congress can dispose of them in such manner as shall seem most appropriate, 
and best calculated to keep in memory the character and services of those (wo 
illustrious founders of our republic. 

I am, with esteem, yours, 

SA.MUEL T. WASHINGTON. 
Hon. George W. Summers, 

House of Representatives. 



Georgetown, January .31, 1843. 

Dear Sir : I have before me your letter of the 30th instant, requesting me to 
give you any information in my possession in lelation to the sword placed in your 
hands by Mr. Samuel T. Washington, (alleged to have been the service sword 
ef General Washington during the revolutionary war,) and which he has in- 
structed you, in his name, to present to the Congress of the United States. 

General Washington, by his will, made disposition of his swords in the fol- 
lowing words: "To each of my nephews, William Augustine Washington, 
•' George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washingtox, 
'• and Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords, or couteaux, of which 
♦' I may die possessed ; and they are to choose in the order they are named'. 
" These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unshcath them for the 
♦' purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or in defence of their 
"country and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and 
" prefer falling with them in their Hands to the relinquishment thereof." 



11 

Two of these swords are in my possession, being devised to me, the one by 
my father, William Augustixe Washington, and the other by my uncle, the 
Jate Judge Bcsiirod Washington. The descendants of George Lewis and 
George Steptoe Washington have two other of these swords, and that in 
your charge is without doubt the one which was selected by Colonel Sasicel 
Washington. 

My father was entitled to the first choice under the will, but was prevented by 
indisposition from attending at Mount Vernon when the distribution took place, 
and Judge Washington selected for him the most finished and costly sword, 
with which associations were connected highly complimentary to General Wash- 
ington ; but I often heard my father say that he would have preferred the sword 
selected by Colonel Samuel Washington, from the fact that it was used by the 
General during the revolutionarjf war. I have at different times heard similar 
statements as to this fact made by Colonel Samuel Washington, Judge Wash- 
ington, and Major Lawhence IjEwis, and am not aware that it has been ques- 
tioned by any member of the family. The sword was represented to me as being 
a couteau, with a plain green ivory handle. 

I entertain no doubt whatever as to the identity of this sword, and hope that 

the information I have given may prove satisfactory. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

G. C. WASHINGTON. 
Hon. George W. Summers, 

House of Representatives. 



A P P E N I) I X 



{At the request of gentlemen, tlie proceedings in the Senate Qn this subject are 

here ap[)€ii(lej. ] 



ly Senate of the United States, 

February 8, 1S43. 

A message from the House of Representatives, bv Mr. 
Clarke, their Clerk : 

Mr. President : The House of Representatives have passed 
a resolution presenting the thanks of Congress to Samuel T. 
Washington, for the service sword of George Washington 
and the staff of Benjamin Franklin ; in which they request 
the concurrence of the Senate. The sword and stafl' accom- 
pany the resolution. 

The Senate proceeded, by unanimous consent, to consider 
the resolution ; when 

Mr. Archer rose, and said that, as the grounds of a pro- 
ceeding sent from the other House of Congress to this, for con- 
currence, could not be assumed to be known necessarily, and 
the resolution before the Senate imparted a distinguished com- 
pliment to a native of his own State, he had been advised, 
and had yielded to the admonition, that a i^iw words from one 
■of the Senators of Virginia might be regarded as not inappro- 
priate, and perhaps be expected, in explanation of the resolu- 
tion. It was known to every member of the Senate that 
General Washington, by his will, had bequeathed swords to 
five of his nephews. One of these swords, plain and the 
least valuable according to ordinary estimates of value, the 
gentleman to whom the first choice had been permitted had 
had the just taste to prefer, as that which his glorious ancestor 



13 

had invariably worn, in real service, from the period of earl7 
\\ie, when he had, in the cause of his country, then in a colo-' 
nial condition, first commended himself to honor, and through 
the entire progress of that great conflict which had resulted in 
the establishment of our liberties and of his immortal renown. 
There was not room for a question that the weapon which had 
just been laid on the table of the President was the identical 
one to which these interesting associations attached. It might 
have been proper for him to have stated the evidences of this 
fact, but the task had already been discharged by his colleague 
and friend in the other House, who had yesterday, in fulfilling 
the office of presenting these relics to the nation, added another 
wreath to the honor of being selected for the function, by the 
chaste, appropriate, and beautiful address — in entire keeping 
with the simplicity of the memorial and of the character of its 
illustrious proprietor — with which he had gratified that body. 

There might be persons, Mr. Archer said, disposed to re- 
gard the reception of memorials so slight as a sword and a 
cane as not in keeping with the dignity of a Senatorial body. 
If such there were, he (Mr. A.) was not to be included in the 
number of them. The disposition he indulged was widely 
different. Nor was such the thought of our great precursors 
in the love and maintenance of liberty in the ancient Repub- 
lics. They had the practice, and regarded it as inestimable, 
of erecting statues to great departed worth. And why ? 
Could the reason be any other but the eflect to keep alive the 
principle of generous virtue, by presenting and keeping per- 
petually before the eyes the symbols of its authors ? 

Mr. Archer said that, for his own part, he thought that 
slighter memorials than statues and mausoleums were far 
more conducive to this effect, where they had appertained to 
the common use — been connected with the offices of service — 
shed a light on the peculiarities of temper or habitude or 
achievement of the persons to which they related. If this 
remark were Just, how applicable, above all others, to Wash- 
ington, and this symbol, his sword, the type in its simplicity 
of his character, in its office of his achievements ! Washing- 



r4 



WON ! the only name requiring no eulogy, for the name itself 
comprehended all eulogy. It had heen said by one of the 
most eminent public men of the age, himself the subject of a 
Monarchy, (Lord Brougham,) that "of uninspired men Wash- 
ington was to be esteemed incomparably the greatest." Nor 
was this to be regarded as exaggerated praise, when it was 
recollected that greatness was to be measured, not by virtue 
only, but a combined consideration of its eflects; and this 
same consideration proved that no man great as Washington 
could perhaps now live. Men, not the inferiors of Washing- 
ton in virtue and in wisdom, might come into existence, but 
to the fullest development of grandeur of character, circum- 
stances must conspire, and form no unimportant part •, and no 
man could again be placed in circumstances such as marked 
the situation of Washington. Many men, it was to be 
hoped, were destined, in that progress of free institutions 
which marked the character of the age, to be the founders of 
liberty for their own countries and times ; but what was the 
peculiarity of the position and office of Washington ? He 
was probably appointed, by the ordination of Providence, to 
prove the founder of liberty for the human race in all times. 
From the germ which he had planted promised to spread the 
influence which was destined, it might be hoped, to gather 
nation after nation under its shadow, and to yield the life-sus- 
taining fruit to all periods in succession. 

And Franklin, whose name Avas associated with Wash- 
ington's in the presentation of these relics ! How curious 
the coincidence that they should have been associated by such 
symbols! Franklin, second only to Washington as one of 
the founders of our Republic, in science a founder greater 
still ! Recent developments made it not improbable that the 
power of which Franklin liad been the first to bring us ac- 
quainted with its laws, was the one the most efficient and 
diffused through the entire processes of physical nature ; the 
thorough knowledge of which was to produce results the most 
imposing and most important which had ever been unlocked 
to human vision I These were the men associated with the 



15 

relics now presented to us, and which, as emblems, these 
relics were appropriate to recall to memory whenever they 
were viewed ; to inspire admiration of the wisdom they had 
displayed, gratitude for the benefits they had rendered, vene- 
ration for the virtue which had adorned them I We had been 
accustomed to call these illustrious men ours. * But the time 
would come when they would equally be exalted as benefac- 
tors of human kind, as they had been ours, and their fame the 
property of their whole race. 

Dr. FuANKLiN, in the bequest of the cane to General 
Washtngton, which was now exhibited to, us, had said that 
" he gave it to his friend, and the friend of mankind, who, 
had it been a sceptre, would have deserved it." And the 
sceptre that friend has attained which he deserved. It had 
been an expression, in the ceremonial offices which occurred 
on the death of Washington, that he was throned in the 
hearts of his countrymen. The expression fell far short of 
the full extent of his destiny. It was to be throned in the 
homage — in the admiration — no ! these did not convey the 
just phrase — in the boundless veneration of mankind ! 

Mr. Archer said he would no longer be the impediment to 
the expression of the acclaiming sentiment which he knew 
beat in the bosom of every Senator, to respond, even by the 
tribute of this humble resolution, to the great titles of Wash- 
ington and Franklin to our aifection, gratitude, and rever- 
ence. 

Mr. Archer having concluded, the question was put, and 
it v^as 

Resolved, unanimously. That the Senate concur in the resolution. 

On motion of Mr. Archer, the Senate then adjourned. 



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